No Rocky Balboa
by Baby Denim Eyes
Summary: As angry as she was, Bay knew she couldn't throw as good of a punch as Rocky Balboa, no matter how much she wanted to.


**Hello there, my name is **_**Four Rights and a Square,**_** and I'm your authoress for this story, **_**No Rocky Balboa.**_

**I have a running theme in this story: If you can point it out correctly and you have a tumblr account, let me know what it is and I'll follow you. : )**

**Take care of yourselves, read, review, and just enjoy the story. Please, go to my profile to follow me on Tumblr. I blog about everything Avengers, Glee, Sherlock, you name it, I like it.**

**Disclaimer: The story **_**No Rocky Balboa**_** is written solely by the fanfiction authoress **_**Four Rights and a Square. **_**She is the owner of the plotline, and many other things of which she refuses to say because she does not wish to continue typing this disclaimer. However, the authoress does not own any of the **_**Switched at Birth **_**characters- she simply loves roleplaying ABC Family's creations.**

* * *

**NO ROCKY BALBOA: ONESHOT-**

Bay was angry.

Okay, the word angry was an understatement.

If there was one thing she knew for sure, it was that she was furious with Simone and Emmett for lying to her, deceiving her, cheating her- hell, Simone used to be her **best** friend! She knew Bay's only weakness was her family. And Emmett, of all people! With someone as angelic and clean slated as Daphne as his best friend, how could he have gone and cheated on her?

She was no Rocky Balboa, but Bay knew how to throw a good punch. And for Emmett, a good knee-in-the-groin shot. Toby had taught her some moves one night after karate practice when she was 14. Her looks and certain body parts were developing, and Wilke was coming over. Needless to say, Wilke hit on her the minute he walked into their home, and the next, he was doubled over clutching his lower groin area.

She knew Emmett was angry- at her for telling on him to his mother, at his mother for ripping him away from the spacious clutches of his father, and at his father for leaving with his mother whom he so despised. She knew Simone was wounded over the loss to Carlton at the basketball tournament, but Simone **knew **Emmett was off limits. Ever since the epic Bay vs. Simone incident, that was one thing they'd come to an agreement on: What was theirs was theirs, and that couldn't be touched.

Simone had crossed a line. But if she thought really hard, Bay could see that she too had crossed a line- Emmett had asked her to stay out of the custody battle, but with the desperate want to impress Melodie so much, she had broken her promise to Emmett. A promise she had had full intentions of keeping. She had crossed a line of Emmett's, and he had crossed one of hers.

Bay sighed, doodling aimlessly on her trigonometry homework. What she and Emmett had- was it worth fighting for? Or should she just let Simone have her way and win **again**?

No. Simone doesn't deserve to have her way. Bay thought. Her hands clenched into a dark fist.

She needed to phone a friend.

* * *

"And you want me to give you this advice, why?" Daphne asked as she stirred the marinara sauce in the pot on the stove.

"Because you know Emmett, and you knew Simone. Even for a short while, you were closer to her than I ever was." Bay struggled to sit still, knowing well that Daphne wouldn't pick up on her anxiousness. "And then there's the fact that you talked to Simone before and after the basketball tournament, and you talked to Wilke, who talked to Simone."

"Fine." Daphne stopped stirring and turned the heat down. "But you have to promise me that you won't speak to anyone about this."

"I promise."

"Emmett has had a lot of girls."

"Gee, thanks for telling me." Bay grumbled. "It would've helped if I had known that little bitty fact a tad sooner."

The strawberry blonde shot her a stiff glare. "Let me finish talking before you continue with your sarcastic internal monologue." Settling down across from Bay on the sofa, Daphne said, "He's always taken his anger and frustrations out on everyone. I mean, just whoever happens to be standing there." Her eyebrows knitted together. "I've been a bystander and a victim of his anger. It comes and goes in cycles: depression, anger, frustration, pure unadulterated rage, and then comfort."

"I don't mean to be rude, but this isn't helping." Bay pointed out dryly. "This isn't going to help me solve anything. At this point, I could go up to him and say, 'Hey, Emmett! How's PMS?' and I probably wouldn't get a fantastic reaction."

Daphne sent her another look. "Emmett was angry at you, and tension had obviously been building with all those other petty arguments you two had, and Simone was there. Simone was upset because Buckner lost, and Emmett was there- probably in the comfort stage. He was seeking comfort like her, and that's probably where the world went wrong."

Bay contemplated her "sister's" (or whatever she was) words for a few seconds. "So you're saying that because I didn't go to the basketball tournament, and because he was mad at me, is the reason he cheated on me with Simone."

Daphne nodded.

"Well, that's a load of bullshit." Bay remarked, blinking. "I bet if I go ask Emmett, he would say the same thing."

Sighing, Daphne shook her head. "Look, Bay, I'm not going to be the messenger between you and Emmett." She snuck a look over at her sauce. "You two have to figure that out for yourselves."

"Fan-flipping-tastic." The dark brunette grumbled. "Yet another problem I have to figure out." She grumpily smashed her fist on the table.

* * *

Avoiding Emmett was difficult. Until now, Bay hadn't fully realized how much she'd come to depend on him, and how much he'd come to depend on her.

She was halfway over to his house unconsciously for a desperate opinion on her latest piece of art when she stopped at the traffic light, and realized what she was doing.

"Shit," Bay mumbled, pulling onto the neighboring street to Emmett's. With a gentle click and some swift movements, she had her cute little car turned around, and heading back home.

"Mom," She yelled into her home as she tossed her keys on the table. "I need to talk to you." Her feet carried her into the living room, where she was not surprised to see her redheaded mother, chatting away on the phone. As usual, it was about the case with the hospital and her book- she was more than likely talking to her lawyer. Kathryn caught sight of her, held up a hand, and Bay took that as a sign asking for peace and quiet. She looked stressed, so clearly things weren't going well in her own problems.

For a moment, Bay considered asking her father for advice, but then she remembered that today was a Thursday, and while school was out for the summer for the Buckner kids, their parents still had to work. Even though her family probably had enough money to buy the White House four times over and would still never have to paya cent, Bay knew her father enjoyed his time out of the house- it allowed time for him to think and relax and not have to worry about the stresses of home life.

Who knew playing a sport like baseball would ever be a good thing?

Angelo would be of no use either, especially considering the fact that he had disappeared once again, and had left no phone number. Emmett was out of the question; Daphne was at basketball practice with Wilke (there was no doubt in her mind that it wasn't the type of practice Daphne had originally had in mind, but she had probably wanted to spend some more time with Wilke before he left her) and Toby was God-knows-where. Bay briefly remembered somebody telling him about the whole Simone affair, but needless to say, her sibling and her hadn't talked about their respective partners cheating on them with one another… you just don't bring up stuff like that at the dinner table). That left only one person.

"Regina, I'm having issues." Bay groaned as she flopped down in one of the beautiful chairs Regina had selected for her countertop seats.

Her birth mother didn't look up from the cheese grater. "What'd Emmett do this time?"

Bay didn't bat an eyelash. "Daphne tell you already?"

Regina's brown eyes flickered up towards her face briefly, but her hands didn't stop rubbing the cheese against the prickled spine of the grater. "I didn't need to ask. It's always the man's fault."

Bay rolled her eyes. "I wish."

Regina stopped her movements. "Bay, in all honesty, this is a decision you're going to have to make on your own. Mothers won't always be there when you have problems. You're going to have to learn to think logically for yourself. Like in college, for example."

Her daughter glared at her indifferently. "You'll be a phone call away. That's logical." She let a sigh ripple from her throat. "Emmett cheated on me. With my and Daphne's ex-best friend named Simone."

Regina's full attention was now on her daughter. "Wait, what? I thought Emmett must've just said something to offend you."

Bay curled her lip. "I wish he had just said something stupid and offended me. It's not like it's hard or anything. I'm very sensitive."

The corners of Regina's lips curled up in a smile. "So we've noticed." Sighing, she pushed the block of cheese and the grater to the side and faced Bay. "Bay, listen," she said. "One of the first lessons you'll ever need to know it that men are, in the simplest of terms, complete and total idiots. Secondly, they don't think the way women do. Men are more impulsive. For example, a guy can have a mid-life crisis when he's twenty-five and go out and buy a Ferrari. They normally don't have much logic, like women do. The slightest things that offend women don't usually affect men. But when they are affected, they go and do something drastic. Like sleeping with your best friend." She paused. "Anyway, they don't see the same things the way women do. They don't think before they act, which is why Emmett got himself in major trouble." Regina turned back to the cheese and the grater. "But you have to let him tell his side of the story. You at least owe him that. There's three sides to every story- his, yours, and the truth. Sometimes the littlest pieces make up the biggest piece of all."

"I see where Daphne gets her methodic rambles from," Bay quipped.

Regina smiled. "Honey, you don't know the half of it."

"So you're saying I have to forgive Emmett?"

"No." Regina shook her head. "What I'm saying is that you have to hear him out. Talk to him, and see if all the pieces of the puzzle fit together. And," she said, looking up at Bay who had gotten up and was heading towards the door, "Once you've tackled talking to Emmett, you're ready to climb Mount Everest: talking to Simone."

Bay let out a very unfeminine-like snort, her hands curling and uncurling from fists to palms. "89% of people who climb Mount Everest die."

Regina cocked her head, challenging Bay with the curve of her raised eyebrow. "11% make it to the top."

* * *

It took Bay a few days to summon up the courage she needed to talk to Emmett. Okay, so maybe she didn't get all the courage she would've liked, but she knew that her mind wouldn't be calmed unless she spoke to him.

However, Emmett was making himself really hard to find.

Daphne was doing everything she could to find her best friend, but it wasn't working. Emmett was nowhere to be found. Melodie, however, didn't seem worried. She told Daphne and Bay that he had told her he needed some time to think. The woman's dark eyes met Daphne's for just the briefest second, and then recognition flared inside the strawberry blonde's blue ones.

"Oh!" She gasped. "Why didn't I think of this before?"

Instantly, she grabbed Bay's hand, ignoring her protests of, "Wait, I'm seriously confused!" and shoved her in the passenger seat of the car.

Driving took a while, but eventually they came to the hidden countryside, and Daphne continued to weave back and forth on dirt paths until they reached another long dirt road.

"Will you tell me where we're going NOW?" Bay was, in a word, exasperated. Her fist thumped against the passenger door.

Her "switchster" (a new term Toby had come up with) gave her a long look. "Before Emmett's parents got divorced, they owned a small cabin out here in the woods by the lake. I used to come with my mom and Grandma and spend a month or two here in the summer."

When the tires stopped in front of a beautiful rustic cabin, Daphne stepped out, and Bay took the time to notice that Emmett's motorcycle was parked in front of the home. "Now, Emmett's grandmother and aunt just live here. You'll want to head in that direction." Daphne said, pointing into the forest.

Bay stared wide-eyed at the thorny, prickly mess of brambles awaiting her on the other side. "Looks like loads of fun." She said dryly.

"Just follow the path, and go up." Daphne said, walking towards the cabin. "I'll be waiting here."

As unusual as it was for Bay to follow specific directions, she stomped somewhat angrily down the path. It was a winding trail of twists and turns and bends and curves, but somehow she found herself in the middle of an open clearing, with only a large, single tree in sight. She squinted, and there in that tree sat a beautiful, ruggedly old tree house.

"Aha," Bay snorted. "Of course it would be a tree house."

In the five minutes it took her to get over to the tree house and climb up the creaky steps, she had fully regained control of her emotions- anger, sadness, hurt, betrayal, and the little bit of an urge to sock someone across the face. Her fists clenched and unclenched once again.

It wasn't until she was standing on the porch of the tree house that she noticed him.

Emmett sat, facing with his back to her, watching the highway a few miles away. His breathing was quiet, his movements undetectable.

Quietly, she tapped him on the shoulder. His eyes immediately widened, and his mouth dropped slightly.

_Hey,_ Bay signed.

_Hi._

_Really? A tree house? _Bay signed to him, using sarcasm to overcome her nerves. It was just Emmett.

_It was my sacred place when I was younger. A place to escape. _A confused look took over his entire face. _What are you doing here? _

_We need to talk._ She signed, and let out a deep sigh. _Emmett, why'd you do it?_

Emmett frowned. _You weren't there. I was at a bad point, and I couldn't lean on you._

Bay felt his words like a stab in her chest. _I'm sorry I wasn't there. _Pausing briefly, she let the bile taste come back into her mouth. _But why Simone? You knew we had a bad history together._

_She was there._ He signed, looking very guilty. _And she was hurting just as much as I was, and she needed a shoulder to lean on like I did. We were each other's shoulders. _Finally, his eyes met hers. _And I didn't know you two had a bad past until Daphne told me. _

_Oh._ Bay let out another sigh, one of resignation. _I'm tired of being mad at you. I know I should be angrier, considering the circumstances, but I talked to Regina, and she changed my mind. _

_She's always been able to change anyone's mind. _Emmett let a small smile creep onto his face. _Like you._

_I miss you. _Bay found her hands instinctively doing the signs. _I miss you because you inspired me. You were my muse. I haven't worked on a piece in over two months. _

Silence.

"I miss you too."Emmett's deep voice rang out, and Bay had to swallow hard to keep the tears down. His voice only came out when he really meant something.

"_Can we just pretend it never happened?"_ Bay asked.

Emmett shook his head. _No, but we can move on._

Bay smiled, a real smile that took over her entire face. _Moving on sounds nice._

_I agree. _

As they made their way down and were walking in the meadow back towards the cabin, his hand found hers, and her fists unclenched.

* * *

**Thanks for reading!**


End file.
